Over the last couple months, we’ve explored how you know what you can offer the rest of the world and why you would want to share it. If you don’t think you have much to offer or you don’t know what those things are, go back and read this article. But this month, let’s explore the next level to this question. How do you share your value with others?
Just because you have a gift, talent, or message that could benefit others, and even when recognize the value of sharing it, you still must figure out how to release that for the benefit of others. So, while identifying is good, you must go a step further and release what you’ve found. This will require building and executing a plan. For some, this is an exhilarating prospect, for others it’s paralyzing. Whether you’re in the camp of the former or the latter, or somewhere in between, let me offer you three simple steps to share your value with others.
Step 1: Write down a plan of action.
If you think it and never write it down, it’s not a plan. It’s wishful thinking and not much will come of it. For you to truly share your value with others, you’ll need a written plan to follow. Your plan should include answers to questions like, “What will I offer?,” “Who will I offer it to?,” “How will I deliver it?,” and “When will I deliver it?” I have a good friend who discovered she had a message she wanted to share with other women. She decided to get serious about her message and came up with a plan. She knew of a women’s conference that was taking applications for breakout speakers. She had never done any public speaking, but she knew she had a message to share. So, she applied to be one of those speakers. Speaking at that conference was her plan to share the value she had to offer.
Step 2: Put in the work it takes to deliver real value.
Just because you have a message or a God-given gift to share, does not mean you’re ready to share it. To be ready to share what you’ve got with anyone in a meaningful way, you’ll need to put in some serious work. Back to my friend. She applied to speak at the conference and she was accepted. That was the first part of her plan. The second part was putting in a lot of hard work and dedication into her message so she would be ready when the time came for her to speak. Since she had not done any public speaking, she found someone to coach her through the process of building her message and preparing to deliver it. This was a process that took place over a couple of months with dozens of hours of preparation. It was not easy work. But she had to consider her audience and the impact she was hoping to have on them. Imagine if she would have shown up unprepared. What a wasted opportunity that would have been. As you build your plan, don’t skip the hard work needed to truly ready to give your best.
Step 3: Follow through, despite your fears.
This is all about accountability. I can assure you that if you build a plan and get yourself prepared, when it comes down to sharing what you have with others, you’ll feel incredible fear. That’s why you must build accountability into your plan. One last check-in with my friend. She had a good plan and she prepared well. That did not exempt her from fear. Part of the preparation she put together with her coach was to rehearse her message out loud in front of others. The day before, she gave her speech to a friend. The night before her speaking engagement, she delivered her message to her husband. Her friend and husband both gave honest and constructive feedback. One of the pieces that helped her follow through with her plan was she had set up accountability. She told her coach she would share it live before the big day. Plus, her name was already printed on the schedule for the conference. There was no turning back, she was committed. It’s easy to make plans when emotions are high and you’re fired up. It’s also easy to abandon your plans when you’re accountable to only yourself. How many of us have turned back in the face of fear, simply because we could? Don’t make this mistake. Build accountability into your plan so you will follow through, despite the fear that certainly will come.
Just like my friend, you too have incredible value to share with others. She saw dozens of women impacted by the message she shared. Several even asked her to mentor them, as a result. What kind of value could you bring to people? You’ll never know until you build and execute a plan to share it.
If you’re ready to get started now, one of our coaches could help you begin building that plan by utilizing some of the highly effective coaching tools we have at our disposal. Just click here to get started on your journey to living out your dreams and bringing great value to others. When you’re ready, we’re here to help you get there.
